The present invention relates to fiber feeding and opening (separating) apparatus for a spinning machine, especially for an open-end spinning machine. More particularly, the invention involves fiber feeding and opening apparatus for a spinning machine including an opening roll for opening a supply of fibers fed thereto, a housing for housing the opening roll, and guide members for guiding the flow of fibers and air in the area adjacent the opening roll.
Previously contemplated feeder and separating devices for open-end spinning machines normally included a number of guide structures for guiding the fiber band or stream to be separated, for guiding the separated fibers, for guiding the airstream through the device, and for aiding in removing impurities from the area of the separated fibers. In part, these guide structures serve as fiber guide surfaces, and in part they also serve as air guides. Depending upon their disposition in the device and their function, these guide structures are variably loaded during use and are, therefore exposed to variable wear inducing heat and friction forces and the like. In other words, the smoothness of the guide surfaces, as well as the velocity and amount of friction engagement of the fibers against the guide surfaces is different for different positions along the travel path through the feeding and opening device. The guide structures in certain areas along the travel path of the fibers required stringent surface finishing tolerances so as not to adversely affect the operation of the device. In other areas of the device, the guide structures do not require such stringent surface finishing tolerances due to the nature of the flow of the fibers and airstream therealong. German Unexamined Published Application (DT-OS No. 2,029,878) discloses a machine with a spinning turbine arranged in a one-part housing which also accumulated feeding and opening rolls. In this construction, a cover was provided on this one-part housing, which cover enclosed all of the mentioned parts. This cover contained a fiber feeder canal extending from the opening roll or separator drum to the spinning turbine, as well as a thread-removing canal. All other guide structures in this device which delimited the travel path of the fibers through the feeding and opening device were formed together with the one-part housing. Since the maximally stressed guide surfaces determine the quality of the materials from which the housing must be made in this device, the manufacture of same required a very high expenditure.
German Unexamined Published Application (DT-OS) No. 2,161,619 discloses a construction wherein the feeder roll and opening roll, as well as the spinning turbine are arranged stationary. They are covered with a common cover which is provided with an insert which forms a part of the fiber feeder canal and the thread removal canal. Also with this construction, most of the guide structures are formed together with the housing surrounding the feeder and opening rolls so that the manufacture of this housing is relatively expensive, due to the requirement that the housing be constructed of material satisfying the most stringent demands on any of these guide structures.
In a further previously contemplated construction as depicted in German Unexamined Published Application (DT-OS) No. 2,012,278, the feeding and opening device is placed in a common housing which is swingable from a stationary housing containing the spinning turbine. The housing of this construction also has a complicated shape requiring a relatively high manufacturing cost.
A further construction is shown in German Auslegeschrift (DT-AS) No. 1,914,831, in which the housing for the feeder and opening device is split for reasons of manufacture and assembly. In this construction, each of the housing parts has a relatively complicated shape and includes variably stressed guide structures, such that also with this construction, the above-mentioned disadvantages exist, namely the necessity to form substantial parts of the housing with expensive quality materials required by the guide surfaces in certain areas, even though the demands on many portions of the housing would not necessitate such high quality material, and/or machining and manufacturing techniques.
Finally, it is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,785,138 to provide exchangeable inserts which are exposed to especially heavy wear, for example, the fiber supply canal arranged between the opening roll and the spinning turbine. Such inserts require an accurate fitting into the remaining parts of the spinning machine so that the manufacturing expense of the very complicated housing is increased rather than decreased by such constructions.
The present invention is directed to the task of creating a housing for a feeder and opening device which requires only a small cost to manufacture and, at the same time, is capable of best satisfying the most varible demands regarding wear, friction values, air guidance, and the like.
The present invention contemplates overcoming the above-mentioned drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art arrangements by providing that the housing for the feeding and opening apparatus or device includes a baseplate to which are attached a plurality of separate guide parts for guiding the fiber stream, as well as the airstream, as they travel through the device.
The present invention utilizes the knowledge that the structure for defining the fiber stream path between the feed roll and the opening roll are not subjected to severe and basically variable loadings. The high loading of the guide surfaces in the feeding and opening device occurs in general only on the portions of the guide structures located in the circumferential direction of the feeder and opening rolls, consequently only these variable heavy demands for the guide surfaces must be fulfilled in constructing the guide structures. Inasmuch as in accordance with the present invention, these guide means located in the circumferential direction of the rolls are produced independently and separately from the other guide members, they are advantageously manufactured to meet the maximum requirements expected, without thereby increasing the total expense of the construction. In other words, the guide means in the circumferential area of the feeder and roll are formed of material and machined to tolerances so that they can withstand the expected high loadings, while the other guide members can be manufactured from cheaper materials with cheaper manufacturing techniques in view of the lesser expected in-use requirements. Further, since the individual guide members are machined individually and are therefore correspondingly lighter and easier to handle, the same can be machined more accurately than would be the case if they were formed together with other guide structures and/or the housing structure itself. Furthermore, with the arrangement of the present invention, it is possible to exchange one part after a certain period of operation, while retaining the remaining portions of the housing and guide surface members.
According to an especially preferred advantageous embodiment of the invention, a single baseplate is provided to form one side of the housing for the opening and feeder rolls, to which baseplate the separate guide members are detachably attached. Starting with only one baseplate, large variation possibilities result with respect to adaptation to various spinning techniques inasmuch as dissimilar spin-technical arrangements can be utilized for the same baseplate. For example, for exclusive processing of synthetic fiber material with opening devices, yarn soiling and impurities may be substantially avoided, consequently guide means for collecting impurities can be removed and replaced with a filler piece or the like.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, the baseplate is advantageously utilized to support axles attached to the feeder and opening rolls. In particularly preferred embodiments, the bearing for rotatably supporting the opening roll is supported in an aperture in the baseplate, which aperture is spaced from a further aperture which houses a bearing sleeve surrounding the axle for the feeder roll, which bearing sleeve further accommodates pivotal movement of the baseplate between a first position with the opening roll in driving contact with its drive means and a second position with said opening roll out of driving contact with the opening roll drive means. With this construction, minimal expense is involved in maintaining an exact distance between the feeder roll and the opening roll, since the respective apertures in the baseplate effectively fixedly determine this distance. This just-mentioned construction is particularly suitable for constructions having the feeder rolls arranged in relatively fixed stationary positions, since this construction accommodates utilization of the single baseplate to not only hold the feeder roll in a fixed position, but also to accommodate pivotal movement of the housing by a sufficient distance to accommodate engagement and disengagement of the drive for the opening roll.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.